Original Zord Footage

This article is about a/an list of Zord footage not from Super Sentai in the Power Rangers franchise.

While it’s common for new footage to be filmed of the Rangers and villains forPower Rangers, it’s rare for the producers to film new footage of the Zords. For one thing, there's no indication that the mecha footage from Super Sentai is supposed to take place in either Japan or California without the rest of the episode as context. Coupled with the fact that the Zord footage costs more than Ranger footage (much harder to remake a mecha suit, more expensive to send the suits Toei used, dressing the suit actor, filming on a special set), it makes little to no sense to have the crew film new Zord footage.

That is why it bears pointing out the few episodes that feature original Zord footage. This is usually done because either the writers and producers wanted to tell a story that couldn't be told by editing the Super Sentai footage, or they were trying to tell the same story as Super Sentai told but there were elements that didn't fit with their version.

Contents

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Precursor

The mecha fights in Zyu2 footage can be considered a precursor to original Zord footage. While it was filmed by Toei (the company behind Super Sentai), none of this footage was featured in the original Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger and was made solely for use by Saban for Power Rangers. A closer analogue would be when Zyu2 footage of the giant monsters was edited with footage of Dairen'oh from Gosei Sentai Dairanger in Season 2 by Saban.

Thunderzords summoning

The very first Zord footage made exclusively for Power Rangers by Saban was the footage of the five main Dinozords transforming into the Thunderzords. Dairanger was not a continuation of Zyuranger, save for being the next Super Sentai series, and the Mythical Chi Beasts have absolutely no connection to the Guardian Beasts.

The Power Stealer

There are three quick shots, the first to involve a fight between a Megazord and monster. One is of the Thunder Megazord’s (the counterpart of Dairen'oh) punch hitting Octophantom and two shots of Octophantom’s punch hitting the Thunder Megazord.

Best Man for the Job

This episode featured a battle between the Thunder Megazord and the White Tigerzord with only a few solo shots of each Zord from Dairanger. While Dairanger did have footage of Dairen'oh fighting Won Tiger, it was a very short fight in Dairanger and not enough for the fight scene as shown in this episode.

A Friend in Need

The Thunder Megazord and White Tigerzord fight Repellator in Part 3. While Repellator is a reuse of the suit for Silver Horns, whose counterpart did fight Dairen’oh and Won Tiger in Dairanger, Repellator involved painting the Silver Horns suit bright green (Silver Horns was dark blue) and adding a tongue, necessitating a new Zord battle.

Ninja Quest

Part 1 featured a fight with Rito Revolto and four previously destroyed monsters (including Octophantom) against the Thunder Megazord and White Tigerzord, a fight that results in the Zords’ destruction. The fight did use footage from Zyu2, Dairanger, and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger but it was mostly footage shot by Saban as Dairen’oh and Won Tiger never went up against Rito’s counterpart Gashadokuro and were never depicted being destroyed in Dairanger.

Final Face-Off

This episode featured the return of Titanus to make the Ninja Ultrazord. King Brachion was never part of the Kakurangers’ arsenal. The Ninja Ultrazord was made by combining the toys of Titanus and the Ninja Megazord (although Zyuranger and Kakuranger footage was used up until the two appeared together) and never appeared in the same frame as Face Stealer (portrayed by his counterpart Nuppefuhofu).

Changing of the Zords

This episode featured original shots of the Shogunzords towering over the villains and Power Rangers since, at this point, most of the Rangers and villains were still based off Zyuranger and Dairanger, who never appeared in Kakuranger. (Gashadokuro, while actually a Kakuranger character, never stood next to the Giant Beast Generals while human sized).

A Chimp in Charge

In this episode Sinister Simian battled the Shogunzords, a completely original fight as the Kakuranger episode that featured Sinister Simian’s counterpart had him fighting the Beast General Fighters, who were the Battle Borgs' counterparts, NOT the Shogunzords' counterparts (the Giant Beast Generals). Considering that the Alien Rangers would be introduced in only a few episodes, the writers and producers likely already knew the Beast General Fighters would become the Battle Borgs and reshot the Zord fight to avoid showing the Battle Borgs too early and being used by the wrong Rangers.

The Sound of Dischordia

Like Final Face-Off before it, this episode featured Titanus combining with a Megazord from Kakuranger, this time with the Shogun Megazord, making the Shogun Ultrazord. Like the Ninja Ultrazord, the Shogun Ultrazord was made with toys and did not appear in the same frame as Dischordia, portrayed by her counterpart Yama-uba. In a goof, the white Shogunzord (Megazord’s left arm) goes from white to pink as the toy was recolored as such, giving an accidental glimpse of what Kakuranger would've looked like with Tsuruhime becoming "Ninja Pink" instead of Ninja White.

Power Rangers Zeo

A Zeo Beginning

As Lord Zedd, Rita, and the others escape the Cogs' attacks into Serpentera, Serpentera is represented by a toy in a forced perspective shot. Daijinryuu was never seen on the moon (although its origins from space never precluded it) and, as the the only connection between Zyuranger and Dairanger is that both are Super Sentai series, never helped the Bandora Gang escape anything (to say nothing about Power Rangers exclusive Lord Zedd and the Tengas).

Power Rangers in Space

There are several shots throughout the season depicting the Astro Megaship traveling in space. These were shot in Saban’s goal of making a space series out of the non-spaced themed Denji Sentai Megaranger. Other than the sequence of it launching into space in "Chase Into Space", only the shots of it orbiting Earth and forming the Astro Megazord are of Galaxy Mega.

Dark Specter's Revenge

An asteroid heading towards Earth is part of the two-parter's storyline. All shots of the Astro Megazord, the Delta Megazord, Mega Winger, and the Mega Voyager interacting with the asteroid are exclusive to Power Rangers.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

Throughout the season the Galactabeasts are seen interacting with the unmorphed Rangers, necessitating new footage (although some shots were made by compositing the Lost Galaxy characters over Gingaman footage). They are also introduced in the show being captured, something their counterparts didn't face. Also, the Galaxy Rangers make use of the Astro Megaship, something never used by the Gingamen and once again doing more space travel than Galaxy Mega.

Loyax' Last Battle

Part of the fight between the Galaxy Megazord and Loyax was reshot with original footage. This deleted a story point in the "The Majin of Sadness", the corresponding Gingaman episode, where energy from an asteroid was channeled through Degius (Loyax’s counterpart) to help revive Daitanix. Titanisaur, the counterpart of Daitanix, did not appear in the Power Rangers episode.

Escape the Lost Galaxy

Journey's End

The Stratoforce and Centaurus Megazords try to defend Terra Venture from the swarm of Sting Wingers in Part 2. The Galaxy Megazord pushes the remains of Terra Venture out of the path of the surviving colonists during Part 3.

Quantum Secrets

Several shots showing the Q-Rex coming towards Eric and Conwing and later having the Q-Rex in Megazord mode chasing after Eric were filmed. The interesting thing regarding these new shots is that Quantum Secrets is an almost shot-for-shot remake of Timeranger’s "Targeted Power" (save for the Battlizer fight at the end of Quantum Secrets against a giant Conwing). The two scenes containing the original shots were identical to two scenes in Timeranger and were only reshot to replace Eric’s counterpart Naoto Takizawa/Time Fire with Eric. There are two more shots of the Q-Rex Megazord as it is attacked by a giant Conwing. One shot shows the Time Shadow Megazord already on the ground (due to an earlier Timeranger sourced Zord fight).

Power Rangers Wild Force

There are shots of the Wildzords interacting with the Wild Force Rangers. Most of them were made by erasing/covering the Gaorangers' actors but some of them were newly made by the Power Rangers producers.

Forever Red

Serpentera was featured in this episode as something the Red Rangers must stop from being unearthed on the moon. As stated before, Daijinryuu was never seen on the moon and was never seen in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger (in short, it never appeared outside Gosei Sentai Dairanger). Had an earlier draft been used, either all the Megazords or all the Red Rangers' Zords would've also appeared (while nearly every Red Ranger Zord and combined Robo appeared in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, behind the scene interviews, as well as the fact Forever Red used Serpentera as the villain and not a counterpart for Lost Highness Rakushaasa, indicates the planned Zord footage would've been original footage).

The End of the Power Rangers

The Zord battle with Animus and the Predazord against Master Org during Part 1 was a mix of original footage and Gaoranger footage. The original footage was evidently filmed to place the battle in a city as it replaces footage featuring GaoGod, GaoHunter, and Ultimate Org Senki, respectively, doing the same actions. Except for two shots (where buildings were super-imposed over Gaoranger footage), if buildings are in the shot it’s original footage while shots with no buildings came from "The Hundred Beasts Die".

Power Rangers Ninja Storm

Storm Before The Calm

Part of the fight between the Thunder Megazord and Vexacus was shot specifically for Ninja Storm, specifically of the Thunder Megazord holding Vexacus with its sword while Vexacus reaches around and strikes the Megazord's back with his. This replaces the portion of the Hurricaneger fight (from "Darkness and a New World") where Gouraijin stabs Sandaaru and itself in a suicide attack. This is still visible in the shot where the two blow up.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

Some new shots were made involving the Biozords (Bakuryuu). Unlike the previous examples, no Zord combat footage was made. The new Zord footage was used only for morphs and other minor moments (screen wipes, moments from the theme song, etc).

Vrak is Back

In Part 2, Emma attempts to destroy the Land Drill with the Gosei Ultimate Command Ship, but fails as the drill is too big. In the Goseiger version, the Land Wedge was about the same size as Gosei Ultimate while in the PR version, the Land Drill was bigger.

Return of the Caveman

The Tricera Zord's tail is seen drilling through a cave to free Chase from a cage. While Dricera's tail does the same thing in this episode's counterpart, it was a bunch of athletes it freed rather than a Ranger (which is a moot point as none of the athletes and Kyoryugers look like Chase) and the tail is seen from a different angle (negating the possibility that the athletes were merely edited out and Chase put in their place). On that note, only the shot of the tail coming through was original: the rest of the footage featuring Tricera Zord is of Dricera.

Let Sleeping Zords Lie

Although it featured a morphed Pink Ranger, the scene with Shelby in the underground cavern with the Ankylo Zord is original to Power Rangers. There were no similar scenes from Kyoryuger with Amy and Ankydon.

Sync or Swim

The shot of the Dino Charge Megazord grabbing the bomb from where the Rangers were standing was a new shot. The shots against Sledge's Ship are not strictly original Zord shots as they were edited from shots of Kyoryuzin in space from "Oh No! Spirit Base". It's difficult to tell whether the shot of Koda watching the Dino Charge Megazord flying in the sky is a completely original shot or edited from the shot of Gentle watching Kyoryuzin fly in the sky from the same Kyoryuger episode.

Deep Down Under

Two shots of the Dino Charge Megazord flying over New Zealand were created to show Koda and Ivan looking for the Plesio Zord. Regarding the Plesio Zord, three shots of it swimming in the water and being attacked were created as well. A shot of it flying out of the cave and two shots of it flying over New Zealand were also made, giving this episode eight shots of original giant Zord footage, a record outside the first Saban era (this doesn't count the incidental Zord footage in Dino Thunder, Jungle Fury, RPM, and Samurai).

One More Energem

There's a shot of the Ptera Zord flying over a forest after saving most of the Rangers from Sledge. There are also several shots of the Plesio Zord docking with Sledge's ship in space. While Kyoryuger footage is used of the Plesio Zord transforming into the Plesio Charge Megazord, a CG shot exclusive to Dino Charge was used to show the Plesio Zord actually landing. Tyler's rescue, after he jumped off the ship and was falling through the air, by the Ptera Zord is shown with a shot made by the Power Rangers production team. Finally, there's the shot of the Rangers going from the Ptera Zord to the Plesio Zord with the T-Rex in the shot. While the shot was mostly from Kyoryuger, Pteragordon was not in the Kyoryuger version of the shot.

Power Rangers Dino Super Charge

Forgive and Forget

The Plesio Zord sprays antidote over the city to counter Stingrage's amnesia poison. The stuff poured into the dam in the corresponding Kyoryuger episode "It Can't be! Deboth Revived" was meant for Deboth's benefit and had no effect on the city it supplied water to. Thus, Plezuon had no reason to, and did not, spray anything in the Kyoryuger episode.

End of Extinction

Only the shots of the Plesio Zord and Ptera Zord coming out of their respective resting areas is derived from Kyoryuger footage. The rest, where the two Zords destroy the Dark Energem, go into the wormhole, and rest on Earth, are all new and specific to Dino Charge.

The Royal Rival

The Lion Fire Zord is seen for real in both Ninninger footage and original Ninja Steel footage. The Lion Fire Zord is seen alongside the Galaxy Warriors ship, the same ship that would later shoot at the Lion Fire Zord and cause it to crash. Before getting attacked, the Lion Fire Zord is seen in some shots flying towards Drillion and a few afterwards flying away. It is last seen in this episode on the ground with damage never seen on Lion Ha-Ojo and with the Power Rangers exclusive Princess Viera seen walking away.

The Royal Rumble

While the same background of the Lion Fire Zord on the ground post-crash is used, there are new shot of Drillion and the Rangers looking at it. A Ninja Power Star is added to a Ninninger shot to show the Star being absorbed by the ship. Also, the shot of the Lion Fire Zord travelling through a meteoroid belt from Gold Rush is seen again (with the previous appearance brought up).